I always get excited whenever there is a new Placebo album. They never let me down. I was bit by the Placebo bug many years ago, back when they just had a small little self titled album in 1996. I think I probably saw them on the cover of a magazine before I actually ever heard the album, but I quickly became a big fan. I loved anything British at the time, and especially anything that was a little bit dark and weird. Brian Moloko was an intriguing man. I have seen him live many, many times and read tons of interviews but still don't really have him completely figured out. But that just makes him all the more interesting. Like many of the other bands that I have stuck with over the years, I associate each of their albums with a time in my life. The albums sort of organize my life for me into more organized sections than I could create myself. The first self titled album came out before I had moved to San Francisco. It actually came out in July, which was the month before I moved to San Francisco from Santa Barbara -- so my new life actually did start with the very first Placebo album, but I didn't really get into it until after I had moved. I listened to it a lot over the years. Often I would listen to it between albums. It helped fill the void when there wasn't a new album by them. Highlights of the album would be "Bruise Pristine," "Lady of the Flowers" and "36 Degrees." But "I Know" is the song that gets me every time I listen to this album. It breaks my heart a little bit, but in a good way. This whole album can really do no wrong for me. The second album, Without You I'm Nothing, came out in 1998 after I had been in San Francisco for a couple of years. This was probably the height of my Placebo obsession, although it honestly has never ever gone away. This was the first tour I saw with them and I was hooked for life after this. I really couldn't get enough of this album. It was a dark and depressing one, but I can't tell you how many times I listened to the song "Without You I'm Nothing." It pretty much became the song I would always listen to after the end of any relationship. It always seems like a long song so you can go through a rollercoaster of emotions in just that one song. My other favorites on the album are "My Sweet Prince" and "Every Me Every You." I forever associate this album with my early years in San Francisco. I grew up a lot in these years but also experienced some heartache.